At deep-drawing expert C&K Johansen in the Danish town of Horsens, flexible production is key to being able to quickly provide service to customers, who come from a number of different production industries. Previously, the majority of production usually entailed manual operation of stand-alone press cells. But, when the company partnered with AP&T and set its sights on the future, many new possibilities for automated production came into view.
C&K Johansen has been a well-respected name in deep drawing for over 40 years and AP&T has been delivering sheet metal forming equipment to the company almost as long. Flexibility has always been an important aspect, with cycle time taking a back seat for the company since they work with small and medium-size series. For this reason, manual press operation was the right way to go.
“In the end, it’s our customers who decide what we need to produce. So, it’s important not to chain ourselves down with an automated solution that limits us,” says C&K Johansen President Peter Møller.
Many operations
But, when the company updated its machinery with two new manually-operated hydraulic presses from AP&T, they chose a new route. It was not uncommon to have 10-15 operations per part and the large amount of manual handling became a problem when it was hard to find skilled operators who could handle operations in many customer assignments. AP&T then suggested combining the two new presses with one of the existing hydraulic presses to form an automated press line that both increased quality and reduced handling cost per manufactured part.
Flexible mix
The press line had to provide a flexible production solution that made it possible to mix automated handling with manual operation if so desired. Three AP&T SpeedFeeder press robots were added to serve the three presses. Later, a fourth press was added to the line, which now can produce products with over 10 operations, including various installations, right from coil.
Faster with fewer operators
“The advantages are obvious. We only need one operator for four presses and the production rate is three to four times faster than with manual handling, if you count intermediate storage,” says Peter Møller. “This has a big impact on manufacturing cost and, in the end, the ability of our customers to become more competitive.”